Chris Newhall
Formal name: Christopher G. Newhall
Pronunciation: /krɪs ˈnuːhɔːl/
Word class: Proper noun; personal name
Entry type: Biographical and historical name
Buhi historical significance
In the May 2000 Buhi Online article “Origin of the Lakes and Hills of Buhi,” Newhall presented the sector-collapse explanation directly to the people of Buhi. He described how enormous blocks of Mt. Asog travelled across the valley, leaving the surviving hills or hummocks locally called busay and apawan. The avalanche obstructed natural drainage and impounded the water that became Lake Buhi.
Newhall also rejected the frequently repeated claim that the collapse occurred in 1641. He showed that historical reports assigned to Mt. Asog in that year actually concerned an eruption of Parker Volcano in southern Mindanao. Although the article could not yet give an exact age for the collapse, it correctly separated the geological event from the erroneous 1641 attribution.
The article made specialist geological research understandable and locally meaningful. It remains one of Buhi Online’s most important contributions to documenting the natural history of Lake Buhi.
Professional note
Newhall began his Philippine connection as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in 1970. He subsequently became an internationally recognized volcanologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and taught at the University of Washington, the University of the Philippines, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and Aquinas University—now the University of Santo Tomas–Legazpi.
With Stephen Self, he developed the Volcanic Explosivity Index, or VEI, now widely used to compare the magnitude of explosive volcanic eruptions. He also played a major scientific role in monitoring and forecasting the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo and co-edited the definitive USGS–PHIVOLCS reference work Fire and Mud: Eruptions and Lahars of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines.
Newhall later helped develop WOVOdat, the international database of volcanic unrest maintained for the World Organization of Volcano Observatories. He continues to be identified as chair of its team.
Present-day note
Newhall retired from full-time institutional service and settled with his wife, Glenda Tapel Newhall, in Barangay Salvacion, Santo Domingo, Albay. They founded the nonprofit Mirisbiris Garden and Nature Center, devoted to environmental protection, education, scholarships, and community service. Although retired, he continues to advise students and scientists and to contribute to volcano-hazard research and education.
Dating clarification
Newhall established the geological interpretation that the Mt. Asog sector collapse formed Lake Buhi and correctly rejected 1641. Later AMS radiocarbon research refined the collapse date to approximately 1870-1620 calibrated years BP, or about 80-330 CE/AD. ["1870-1620 BP" BP = Before Present. "Present" = 1950 in science. So 1870 BP = 1870 years before 1950 = around year 80 AD. 1620 BP = 1620 years before 1950 = around year 330 AD.]
Newhall authorized that research program and is not a listed author of the 2023 dating paper.
Alternative forms
- Christopher G. Newhall — formal and bibliographic form
- Chris Newhall — commonly used professional form
- Dr. Chris Newhall — honorific form used in Buhi publications
Related entries
Mt. Asog; Iriga Volcano; Lake Buhi; besay; apawan; debris avalanche; sector collapse; Buhi Online